Chapter 357 – White Pond Mountain
The western peak of White Pond Mountain was a bit larger than Han Li had imagined. Not only was there an ancient temple built on top of the entire peak, but there were also a dozen or so large and small stone pavilions, and there were already groups of Immortal Cultivators having long conversations inside in groups of three to five.
Of course, outside the pavilions and the temple, there were some equally sparse cultivators walking back and forth. It seemed that there were already people who were anxious to arrive early for this White Pond Mountain gathering.
Han Li looked over the peak for a while before circling around and landing in a remote corner of the peak. Han Li then took Qu Soul and casually walked towards a few nearby stone pavilions.
With Han Li’s powerful Divine Sense, it didn’t take long to listen to the conversations of the cultivators within the stone pavilions.
One of them, a stone pavilion with four Immortal Cultivators talking at length, entered Han Li’s eyes.
Han Li listened briefly, and said that it was precisely the matter of the battle between the seven sects of Yue and the Devil’s Path, so he couldn’t help but be energized and walked over without further hesitation.
”With this great defeat against the Devil Dao, not only have the six sects of Yue Country been forced to flee their homeland, even our Yuanwu and Zijin countries are going to be in great trouble in the future. Now it depends on whether the Devil’s Way will hit our Yuanwu first or attack Zijin next.” The pale-faced middle-aged man among the four said with a sigh.
”Yes, in the last big battle, certainly the six sects lost a lot of strength, and the cultivators from the two countries who went to help were buried fifty to sixty percent of the time! This time, the Heavenly Star Sect and other immortal sects are going to be scorched!” Another youth, who was about twenty years old, gloated and picked up the conversation.
Hearing the youth’s words, the two old men among the other three looked as normal and did not have any reaction, but the middle-aged man who had just started to speak couldn’t help but laugh bitterly a few times, and opened his mouth to say something else.
But just at that moment, from the side came the voice of another person.
”I’m afraid that while the Heavenly Star Sect and other large sects are certainly in a sorry state, the days of us scattered cultivators and Immortal Cultivation Families will become even worse. The people of the Devil’s Path emphasize the set of the weak and the strong, and when that happens, we won’t be as relaxed and at ease as we are today.” Han Li walked over from slowly, but his mouth spoke the intent of the middle-aged man’s bitter smile.
Hearing that there were outsiders in the vicinity, these four people were first startled and immediately shut their mouths.
But after realizing that they couldn’t see Han Li’s cultivation, several of them showed a hint of uneasiness on their faces and got up to salute Han Li respectfully. The middle-aged man even hurriedly tried to absolve the youth by saying, “This senior, Yu Xian Nephew just casually said just now, but there is no intention of disrespecting the various factions in the slightest, but also to seniors do not take offense!”
These few people, in fact, took Han Li to be a high-ranking cultivator of whichever Immortal Sect in Yuanwu Country.
The young man’s expression was similarly tense.
”Hehe, don’t misunderstand a few fellow Daoists, I’m also just a casual cultivator! Just now, I was also just casually interjecting.” Han Li smiled and gently explained.
Only then did the few people let their hearts drop when they heard Han Li say so. Although they didn’t know the authenticity of Han Li’s words, it was clear that the other party didn’t pursue the meaning of the impudence of his words just now.
Thus, in the midst of several people greeting him, Han Li also took a seat at the stone table in the pavilion.
”It is an honor for us latecomers to have senior come here. But with senior’s cultivation, how could he participate in this level of exchange?” The red-faced old man with the deepest cultivation among the four asked with some constraint.
It was no wonder that this person was so surprised, knowing that a small local gathering like White Pond Mountain would normally find it hard to attract Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators. Higher level cultivators would naturally have another higher level gathering if they were to exchange.
”Some time ago, I have been cultivating in a barren mountain not far from here, it was only not long ago that I heard the news of our cultivator’s great defeat in Yue, and felt that there was going to be a big change in the Immortal Cultivation world, which is why I went out of the mountain to spy on the news… Do a few of my friends have the latest news about the Devil’s Path and Yue?” Han Li spoke lightly.
Hearing Han Li say so, these four people looked at each other for a moment, but immediately three of them looked at the other dry and thin old man in unison.
”In terms of being well-informed, of course it has to be Elder Brother Ding, after all, the Ding Family has many secular industries that are directly opened in the Yue Country!” The red-faced old man gave a dry laugh and said lightly.
The other two also agreed in unison, which caused Han Li’s eyes to flash with a strange color as he listened.
When the old man surnamed Ding saw this, a trace of embarrassment surfaced on his face. He could only say helplessly, ”Our Ding Family’s children in the country of Yue have indeed recently sent back to the family some updates on the situation in Yue. Originally, these messages were not wanted to be spread out within the family, but since a few of you are close friends of Mister Ding, and this senior would like to know some of them as well, then I will say some of them! However, I also ask that a few of you do not easily leak it out.”
Hearing this from the old man surnamed Ding, the remaining three couldn’t help but be energized as they repeatedly said yes, and Han Li also nodded slightly.
Then, with a light cough, the old man slowly said, “The news I just received a few days ago said that the current Yue Country is in chaos. Although the Devil’s Way crushed the allied forces of the six factions, there are still quite a few collapsed cultivators from the six factions who did not leave the country of Yue, but instead relied on the terrain to keep attacking the Devil’s Way’s people. I heard that there are still a few JieDan stage cultivators in there who haven’t withdrawn either, which makes the people of the Magic Road a bit busy and tired. After all, JieDan stage cultivators were not that easy to deal with. Coupled with the fact that the six sects have been rooted in Yue for many years, the potential power is still not small, allowing the Devil’s Way to take over the Yue cultivation world is still a bit of a hot mess.”
”And the cultivation clans in Vietnam are now divided into three attitudes, one saw that the six factions had lost and immediately turned against them, taking the initiative to submit to the six sects of the Devil’s Way. Another kind of family, because they are too close to the six sects, fearing that the Devil’s Way will settle their scores, has simply withdrawn from the country as well as the six sects. The last kind of family, on the other hand, is still in the wait-and-see stage, ready to look at the situation before saying anything.”
”As for the important places of the sects that the seven sects have occupied for many years, I heard that apart from the Moon Covering Sect and the Giant Sword Sect, which have yet to be captured by the six sects of the Devil’s Path, the other four sects have been completely captured, but the things captured are said to be very few, with most of the rare items being taken away by the disciples of the six sects that have evacuated.”
”As I see it, as long as the Devil Dao can’t let the Yue Country stabilize, they won’t attack our country or Zijin’s for a day, after all, as much as their manpower is, after occupying two small countries and a medium country all at once, I’m afraid that they are a bit unable to take care of them, that’s why they took those non-stop troublemaking cultivators of the six sects and couldn’t do anything about it for a while.”
The old man slowly spoke the above words and revealed some insights of his own.
”Elder brother Ding, how long do you reckon the Devil’s Way can leave us a respite, and can our country’s factions still resist the other side’s attacks now?” The red-faced old man on the side couldn’t help but interject his question.
”This is not easy to say? After all, what I know is only some superficial news, the real truth in the end, I’m afraid that only the top management of the various factions have the numbers in their hearts.” The old man surnamed Ding said with a shake of his head and stole a glance at Han Li.
Obviously, he still thought that Han Li was a cultivator of a certain faction in his country, which caused him to say these words in a somewhat veiled manner.
Then, as if he didn’t want to continue talking about issues related to this, the old man surnamed Ding suddenly smiled and told something that took Han Li by surprise.
”This time, because the six sects of Yue were evacuated in greater haste, they all coincidentally adopted the method of the gecko’s broken tail, only taking away the elite disciples with better qualifications in their sects, leaving quite a few other disciples to be sacrificed in the dark. The ones who were the most ruthless in this were said to be a group of Yellow Maple Valley’s top management. In order to let the true elite of their heart and soul escape from the Yue Country in peace, they even sacrificed two batches of disciples in a row, which was almost all of the cultivators outside of the Yellow Maple Valley’s evacuation disciples. Tsk, the means are really something!”
Although the old man spoke carelessly, Han Li’s heart sank violently as he listened, and his face changed slightly. However, it was fortunate that no one else dared to keep a close eye on Han Li, which was why no one paid attention to his unusual expression.
”Fellow Daoist Ding, that Yellow Maple Valley you mentioned sacrificed two groups of disciples, what’s going on? I’m quite interested!” Han Li forced down the shock in his heart and asked without moving.
”Hehe, since senior asked, senior naturally spoke truthfully. The matter is like this, I heard that as soon as the higher-ups of that Yue Kingdom received the news of the loss at the front, they immediately came up with a trick of the Golden Cicada. They first let a group of disciples within the door to evacuate first, but secretly this news leaked to the devil’s spies, saying that these disciples are their Yellow Maple Valley’s elites, and brought along a large number of spirit stones, raw materials and other belongings, so that the devil’s pursuers were completely attracted. At the same time, another group of disciples who were kept in the dark were left behind in the door, allowing them to utilize the large formation to form another confrontation with the remaining Devil’s Way people. With these two groups of disciples having attracted all of the enemy’s attention, it was only after the Yellow Maple Valley’s senior management had the true heart of the elite disciples, with the savings of thousands of years within the sect, retreat in a separate direction from the opposite direction.”
”I heard that although Yellow Maple Valley had the least number of people who safely retreated, they took the easiest way out of the six sects’ evacuation. As for the remaining five factions, although they pooled their manpower together to retreat, they were still caught up by their pursuers one after another and fought multiple battles, with quite a few of their belongings falling into the hands of the Devil’s Path. This matter has been widely rumored in the cultivation world of Yue because the Devil Dao was tricked.” The old man didn’t dare to slack off and recounted it to Han Li.
”Oh! That’s how things are ah, that group of abandoned Yellow Maple Valley disciples are really stupid!” Han Li’s expression remained unchanged as he slowly whispered.